How TV Stations Decide What News to Cover: Former TV News Executive Maria Reitan Speaks Out
Maria Reitan is a top-notch public relations executive and the founder of the firm, Topsail Strategies. But before that she led television newsrooms in some of the country's largest markets. Find out how the pressure to win in the news ratings affects the story selection in broadcast journalism.
Listen to Episode #5 Now:
BIO:
Maria Reitan deploys more than 25 years of strategic internal and external communications experience across public relations, advertising, and social for her clients. Her award-winning work has driven results for family-owned businesses like Honeybear Brands, nonprofits such as The Mayo Clinic, Children’s Cancer Research Fund, Ampact, and Conservation Corps of Minnesota and Iowa, to national household brands including Cargill, Hasbro, Trane, Pella, and Tempur-Pedic to name a few.
Maria founded her strategic communications consultancy Topsail Strategies in 2015 after spending more than a decade on the senior leadership team at Carmichael Lynch advertising and PR agency and as president of boutique agency Lola Red in Minneapolis.
In 2019, Maria launched Jump Team, digital marketing coaching courses that help people create their own businesses and pursue what they love.
Maria hosted two podcasts PurseStrings and Dream Possible over 15 years. Her podcasts and client campaigns have been awarded the industry’s highest recognition including the Silver Anvil, Bronze Anvil, PR Platinum, PR Week, Golden SABRE and Minneapolis PRSA.
Prior to her career in integrated strategic communications, Maria spent fifteen years in television news as an Emmy Award-winning news director, producer and reporter in Minneapolis, Chicago, Miami, Louisville and both Carolinas. Her intimate knowledge of journalists and the inner workings of newsrooms have been invaluable to clients, especially those in need of media coaching and crisis and issues management counsel.
Maria has a B.A. in journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Topsail is a certified women-owned business.
Transcript:
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Daryl Michelson: This is Pet Life Radio.
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Daryl Michelson: Let's talk pets.
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Mary Tan: Welcome to the Whisker Report, a new podcast where we teach you pet products, businesses and animal rescues, how to do PR yourself.
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Mary Tan: Hello everyone, I'm Mary Tan, one of the hosts of the Whisker Report.
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Mary Tan: And joining me is my colleague across the pond, Alexane Ricard.
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Mary Tan: Bonjour, Alexane.
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Alexane Ricard: Bonjour, tout le monde.
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Alexane Ricard: We're so excited about the show today.
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Alexane Ricard: We've got an amazing guest, Maria Reitan of Topsail Strategy, which is a public relations firm based in New hampshire.
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Alexane Ricard: And we also want to introduce you to our producer, Mark Winter of Pet Life Radio , who's the man who gets us to you every week.
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Alexane Ricard: How are you, Mark?
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Mark Winter: Hi, hi everyone.
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Alexane Ricard: How you doing?
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Mark Winter: Getting ready for the weekend.
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Alexane Ricard: Yay!
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Mary Tan: Yeah, the 4th of July, lots of stuff going on here in the US.
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Mary Tan: Alex, you have Bastille Day coming up, right?
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Alexane Ricard: Bastille Day?
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Mary Tan: Bastille Day.
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Mary Tan: Yes, isn't that the French?
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Mary Tan: Yeah, it is.
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Mary Tan: Independence Day or something on July 14th.
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Alexane Ricard: You call it the Still Day?
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Alexane Ricard: Oh, we call it the Revolution Day.
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Alexane Ricard: Oh.
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Mary Tan: I was taught Bastille Day.
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Mark Winter: I heard that too, Bastille Day.
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Alexane Ricard: Yeah, yeah, it has many names, but Still Day, I never heard of it.
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Alexane Ricard: But yeah, yeah, yeah, we have it coming up in 10 days.
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Alexane Ricard: Yeah.
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Mary Tan: All right.
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Mary Tan: Well, you know, you learn something new every day, whether or not it's related to PR or not.
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Mary Tan: So we are so excited to have Maria on.
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Mary Tan: She was actually my boss when I was in television news, and she has the scoop on everything regarding TV.
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Mary Tan: So we're gonna talk to her right after this break.
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Announcer: Here's Daryl Michelson, owner of Purniture Cat Furniture.
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Daryl Michelson: Back in 1990, I was in the market for some cat furniture.
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Daryl Michelson: And as looking at the cat furniture available, I realized that most of it is basically overpriced junk.
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Daryl Michelson: The big difference between our furniture and other cat furniture is the fact that we use plywood, and all other cat furniture is made with some sort of a particle board.
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Announcer: You can see the Purniture difference online at purniture.com.
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Announcer: That's P-U-R-R-N-I-T-U-R-E.
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Announcer: Let's Talk Pets on petliferadio.com.
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Mary Tan: Well, Maria Reitan is a long time friend and a long time former journalism news manager.
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Mary Tan: And we want to introduce her now.
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Mary Tan: Maria, we are so honored to have you on our podcast.
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Mary Tan: And can you tell us a little bit about your background?
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Maria Reitan: Oh my gosh, I'm so thrilled to be on with these ladies today.
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Maria Reitan: And of course, Mark.
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Maria Reitan: It's good to be back on a podcast.
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Maria Reitan: So I had my own podcast for 15 years.
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Maria Reitan: So it's a little weird being on this side of the mic, I'll be honest.
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Maria Reitan: But yes, Mary, you already talked a little bit about my background.
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Maria Reitan: I spent 15 years in television news, running newsrooms all over the country.
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Maria Reitan: We can hear probably a southern accent.
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Maria Reitan: So I am from North Carolina, and I was at stations in both Carolinas.
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Maria Reitan: Then I went to Miami.
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Maria Reitan: Then I went to Chicago.
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Maria Reitan: And from Chicago, I went to Louisville, Kentucky as a news director before ending my career in news at WCCM-TV in Minneapolis, St.
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Maria Reitan: Paul.
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Maria Reitan: I made the leap into PR and advertising with a national PR and advertising firm here in the Twin Cities, and was there for a decade, which seems like eons after being in TV news, which rotates every two to four years, I feel like.
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Maria Reitan: You have to hop from market to market in order to grow your career.
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Maria Reitan: I know you're very familiar with that, Mary.
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Maria Reitan: And it was at WCCO that I made the brilliant choice of hiring Mary Tan and never regretted that.
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Maria Reitan: And then after spending 10 years at Carmichael Lynch, I went to a boutique firm as president and chief strategy officer and realized, you know, I really could do that myself.
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Maria Reitan: And so I launched Topsail Strategies nine years ago.
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Maria Reitan: We celebrate 10 years next year.
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Maria Reitan: And I focus on public relations, but I also operate as a small firm with in the paid on shared and earned spaces, which means I work with clients on social and also on advertising.
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Maria Reitan: So that's the quick version.
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Mary Tan: Wow.
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Alexane Ricard: Maria, can I ask what drove you to PR?
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Alexane Ricard: Like from news?
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Alexane Ricard: That's quite like a big change.
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Maria Reitan: Oh, Alex, great question.
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Maria Reitan: So I did not want to be an alcoholic and divorced before 40.
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Maria Reitan: And I gave myself into age 40 to get the heck out of Dodge because I had seen so many career news directors, especially become chained to that career because you make a certain amount of money.
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Maria Reitan: You feel like you cannot do anything else.
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Maria Reitan: You have no idea what else you could ever do but be in news.
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Maria Reitan: And you are forced to move every two to four years from city to city.
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Maria Reitan: It's a very nomadic lifestyle.
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Maria Reitan: It's very hard on relationships and it's very difficult to have a family.
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Maria Reitan: And I've always planned my career very thoughtfully.
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Maria Reitan: And when I was in Louisville, Kentucky, as a news director, I told my husband after having moved him, I think, five times.
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Maria Reitan: By then we had an 18 month old daughter and I said, you know what, I do not want to be doing this and moving her when she's, you know, in elementary school and she has to readjust.
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Maria Reitan: So we have one more move left and we need to be near family.
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Maria Reitan: We had never been near family.
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Maria Reitan: So that needed to be back to Charlotte, North Carolina, Atlanta, which is a great market or the Twin Cities.
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Maria Reitan: So I took the Twin Cities job because it did open first, and it's a fabulous place to raise children.
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Maria Reitan: It's got one of the best public school systems in the United States, and it's a very outdoorsy, healthy community, and I knew it would be a great place to raise a family.
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Maria Reitan: So when the position opened, I jumped at it, but I promised my husband I would not move him, and I would get out of the news within five years.
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Maria Reitan: Because again, I did not want to be an alcoholic or divorced.
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Maria Reitan: So, and you think I'm joking, but it's the truth.
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Maria Reitan: So many news directors are divorced.
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Maria Reitan: So that's what I did.
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Maria Reitan: Instead of being five years, it was two years because the situation that I was hired into changed pretty dramatically.
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Maria Reitan: I worked for a very large ownership group at the time.
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Maria Reitan: They owned a bunch of CBS stations all across the country, and the gentleman who hired me in New York left, and he was replaced by another man who we did not see exactly eye to eye.
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Maria Reitan: And I realized that I needed to make that leap sooner rather than later.
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Maria Reitan: And it took me a year, Alex, to decide what I wanted to do.
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Maria Reitan: And if I could do anything after news, and I talked to 200 people across that year, and I determined that an agency would be the best fit for me because it's fast paced and news is extremely fast paced.
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Maria Reitan: I did not want to be bored.
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Maria Reitan: And I felt like I could make an immediate impact with the skills I already had.
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Maria Reitan: And so that's why I made the choice.
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Maria Reitan: I have since developed a coaching business called Jump Team, where I help people make career pivots and are able to see the possibilities of transferring the skills they have today into a new career and not do it in a year in 200 people, but do it in a matter of months.
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Maria Reitan: So anyway, long answer to your short question, but that's the why and the how.
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Mary Tan: So I have a question for you.
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Mary Tan: I happen to know about the time you spent at WCCO.
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Mary Tan: You went through the wringer there.
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Mary Tan: There were so many challenges and the pressures that these corporations put on newsrooms to deliver a profit.
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Mary Tan: Can you tell us how that affects news decision making and the kinds of stories that you had your reporters and producers run?
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Maria Reitan: Absolutely.
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Maria Reitan: I think what most people don't understand, if they're not in news, is that news is a business.
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Maria Reitan: At the end of the day, you have to make a profit.
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Maria Reitan: And the way that profits are made is that you create your own content.
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Maria Reitan: So if you look at across the 24-hour spectrum on any given day, you have news and then you have programming, right?
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Maria Reitan: It's expensive to purchase programming that's not developed by your own network.
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Maria Reitan: So oftentimes, what happens is more news product is generated.
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Maria Reitan: Well, what was happening is more news product was generated with not more people added to the news team to fill the hole, we called it, the news hole on any given day.
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Maria Reitan: And yet, you had to deliver eyeballs, people, and the 18 to 55 demographic, which was the Creme de la Creme people that you wanted watching your newscast.
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Maria Reitan: And you had to have a lot of them watching day in and day out.
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Maria Reitan: And every day, we would get a report that showed us how many people watched every one of our newscasts.
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Maria Reitan: And not only how many of them watched, but when they bailed out of the newscast.
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Maria Reitan: So you would know what content was resonating, what content was not, and then you had to develop more of the content that was resonating, right?
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Maria Reitan: You leaned into that content that seemed to be more sticky than the content that wasn't.
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Maria Reitan: However, you had to do it with fewer people in a more of a news hole.
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Maria Reitan: So what that meant was you were doing what I call if it bleeds, it leads type of news.
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Maria Reitan: In order to cover news of the day, it's a quick in and out.
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Maria Reitan: You send a crew, they scatter shot the story, they come back, they put it on the air.
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Maria Reitan: It repeats at noon, five, six, ten, maybe the following morning, right?
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Maria Reitan: It becomes much more of an investment to have someone come off the street, not cover news of the day, but spend two months doing an investigative work that then turns around and it runs instead of maybe a minute, 25, like a bleed it leads, it runs three to five minutes.
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Maria Reitan: And that's where real news happens, unfortunately, but that's an investment of time and money and people to do that kind of journalism.
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Maria Reitan: It's expensive.
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Maria Reitan: And if you have fewer people to cover that bigger news hole, that growing news hole, and what you're finding is that your viewers maybe aren't sticking around to watch that three to five-minute investigative piece.
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Maria Reitan: They're watching what happened in the first block of the show, which is the news of the day, and then they're out.
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Maria Reitan: Then what do you think is going to get covered, right?
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Maria Reitan: You're going to do more what I call cheap and easy coverage.
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Maria Reitan: And the other thing that is challenging is you're only as good as your last newscast.
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Maria Reitan: So when you're getting those overnights, and that's what they were at the time, you get up the next day, and you would see how you perform the previous day.
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Maria Reitan: If you didn't perform well, you had to go in and explain to your station manager why you didn't perform well.
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Maria Reitan: And then you had to try to fix that that day.
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Maria Reitan: And you had to watch for trends in viewership to try to fix things over a certain time horizon.
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Maria Reitan: And there were particular months of the year that were hypercritical for you to perform well.
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Maria Reitan: February, May, and November is what's called sweeps months and that's when you are putting on your most amazing coverage.
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Maria Reitan: Those three to five minute pieces you're promoting, they're sexy, they're interesting, and you hope that that really kind of jump start your numbers.
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Maria Reitan: You live and died by especially May and November sweeps.
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Maria Reitan: And if you did not have a good sweeps month, forget it because what happened was sales would always price their commercial signing that they were selling by your sweeps month.
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Maria Reitan: And if you did not do well, they could not sell the news for as much as they wanted.
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Maria Reitan: If they could not sell the news for as much as they wanted, guess what?
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Maria Reitan: I was told I had to lay off people, or I had to fire people, or I had to find a way to make up that income.
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Maria Reitan: So that's the way it works people.
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Maria Reitan: And it is super stressful.
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Maria Reitan: And so, you know, you laughed before about divorced and alcoholic, but you might see where people could be turned to the bottle.
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Mary Tan: Yes.
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Maria Reitan: Right?
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Maria Reitan: their first drugs fall and it's only gotten worse.
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Maria Reitan: And I won't go down that rabbit hole unless you want me to, but I'll shut up now.
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Maria Reitan: But that's your quick primer on names and business.
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Alexane Ricard: I actually have a question because you could see all the viewership and you know, how well your content was doing.
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Alexane Ricard: Do you have any experience with pet content?
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Alexane Ricard: Do you remember if the pet content was doing really good, or did it depend on the story?
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Alexane Ricard: But, you know, because our listeners are mostly pet in the pet industry.
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Alexane Ricard: So I was wondering if you had any insights on that.
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Maria Reitan: Oh, Alex, yes.
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Maria Reitan: So I used to say if I could put people, pets and weather in a story, it was a home run.
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Maria Reitan: So if it were bad weather, people always tuned in for bad weather.
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Maria Reitan: So, you know, I would pray for the bad weather day, right?
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Maria Reitan: And if it were anything to do with a pet, then that was always big or animals in general.
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Maria Reitan: And then children, children were always big as well.
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Maria Reitan: And I'm going to give you, I'm going to give you a little story that I swear people in Chicago thought I was insane.
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Maria Reitan: I know they thought I was insane, but I was coming from Chicago.
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Maria Reitan: I was at WMAQ as Managing Editor, which meant that I was in charge of what the reporters covered in Chicago at that station.
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Maria Reitan: And I had just been there a few days.
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Maria Reitan: And I forget who was in town.
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Maria Reitan: It might have been the president in town.
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Maria Reitan: And it was the five o'clock show.
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Maria Reitan: And at the time on the five o'clock show, or was it the four o'clock show?
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Maria Reitan: I can't remember.
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Maria Reitan: But mainly women were watching, okay?
00:15:23.718 --> 00:15:27.358
Maria Reitan: You had to understand who your target audience was.
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Maria Reitan: And I didn't think that women gave two you-know-whats about the president being in town when there wasn't really a lot to talk about.
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Maria Reitan: And yet we had a puppy mill story that was breaking.
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Maria Reitan: And I told them that we needed to lead with the puppy mill story because people cared more about dogs than they did the president.
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Maria Reitan: I think we won that show.
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Maria Reitan: But Chicago is a big day, big journalism town.
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Maria Reitan: And of course, they thought we would lead with the president.
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Maria Reitan: I think they hated me from that day forward.
00:16:02.038 --> 00:16:09.098
Maria Reitan: I was not popular in Chicago because I pushed back on their preconceived notion of what was news.
00:16:09.098 --> 00:16:15.418
Maria Reitan: But I really was leaning into what I thought the viewer cared about, not what we thought we should cover.
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Maria Reitan: Remember, this is a business.
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Maria Reitan: And we would get to the president.
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Maria Reitan: It wasn't like we were not following the presidency.
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Maria Reitan: But I just were interested in that puppy mill story.
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Maria Reitan: So anyway, if that tells you anything, yeah, about the value and the interest in pets specifically.
00:16:33.958 --> 00:16:39.458
Mary Tan: Yeah, and I've heard, so I'm based here in the Minneapolis area as well.
00:16:39.458 --> 00:16:48.578
Mary Tan: And I had heard from some of the stations that their viewership increases by 20% when they air any kind of an animal story.
00:16:49.138 --> 00:16:50.538
Mary Tan: So that kind of ties in.
00:16:50.538 --> 00:17:00.238
Mary Tan: So how would you suggest to animal rescues and for-profit pet companies, how would you suggest that they pitch to TV stations?
00:17:00.238 --> 00:17:04.558
Mary Tan: Is there any kind of a, you know, some tidbits of advice you can give?
00:17:05.058 --> 00:17:05.618
Maria Reitan: Absolutely.
00:17:05.618 --> 00:17:08.338
Maria Reitan: Well, one, I would say hire Whisker Media.
00:17:08.338 --> 00:17:10.418
Maria Reitan: That's what I would say.
00:17:10.418 --> 00:17:11.758
Maria Reitan: You silly people.
00:17:11.758 --> 00:17:18.418
Maria Reitan: If you haven't already become a client of Whisker Media, you should do that first.
00:17:18.418 --> 00:17:23.638
Maria Reitan: And then Marion and Alex will know exactly how to pitch your product.
00:17:23.638 --> 00:17:33.058
Maria Reitan: But should you not do that for some bizarre reason, then I'm going to say that what you need to think about is what does your product deliver?
00:17:33.238 --> 00:17:35.298
Maria Reitan: What's the impact that it makes?
00:17:35.298 --> 00:17:46.158
Maria Reitan: What's the end result that makes your client lives or their pet's lives better, safer, more healthy?
00:17:46.158 --> 00:17:52.678
Maria Reitan: What are you doing that's unique, different, never before seen or affects a ton of people?
00:17:52.678 --> 00:17:54.338
Maria Reitan: That's what news cares about.
00:17:54.338 --> 00:18:01.798
Maria Reitan: They care about the unique, the different, the new, the impact, the high number of people that it has the ability to help.
00:18:02.238 --> 00:18:08.218
Maria Reitan: And if you can prove that demonstrative difference, that is going to be a key.
00:18:08.218 --> 00:18:20.998
Maria Reitan: The other thing that I always say is, it is typically a product, and that could feel very salesy, very advertising, and there's a natural inclination not to cover that in news.
00:18:20.998 --> 00:18:34.458
Maria Reitan: So I always look for a way to tether that to a macro trend, something that is trending, that is having a moment in news that is unlocked.
00:18:34.458 --> 00:18:37.818
Maria Reitan: For example, I know July 4th just happened.
00:18:37.818 --> 00:18:45.638
Maria Reitan: There's all kinds of products out there to help calm and quiet pets, who are fearful of fireworks and big noises.
00:18:45.638 --> 00:18:57.818
Maria Reitan: So if there's a holiday or a seasonality to the product, or a trend that you can tie your product to, you have a better chance of getting coverage as well.
00:18:58.358 --> 00:19:15.598
Maria Reitan: If you've got someone who's a third-party expert, who's very well known or very, very credible, I'm not talking about some B or C, D level celebrity, but they authentically can bring value coming alongside your product.
00:19:15.598 --> 00:19:25.158
Maria Reitan: They become an endorser of the product and they can add legitimacy just by the very nature of who they are and the expertise that they bring.
00:19:25.158 --> 00:19:26.798
Maria Reitan: And I always look for that.
00:19:27.158 --> 00:19:41.238
Maria Reitan: If you're an NGO, you're a non-profit rather than a product manufacturer, you know, obviously you have a mission and you need to lean into that mission, and you need to tie that mission to that bigger story.
00:19:41.238 --> 00:19:47.018
Maria Reitan: So if you're a cat rescue, for example, why are you in the cat rescue business?
00:19:47.018 --> 00:19:49.838
Maria Reitan: Why are there a lot of cats to rescue?
00:19:49.838 --> 00:19:52.098
Maria Reitan: Are you having a hard time finding homes?
00:19:52.098 --> 00:19:53.218
Maria Reitan: What's your challenge?
00:19:53.218 --> 00:19:54.358
Maria Reitan: What's your pain point?
00:19:54.778 --> 00:20:05.338
Maria Reitan: And being able to talk about that so that the station knows that there's a problem that maybe their coverage could help solve.
00:20:05.338 --> 00:20:17.378
Maria Reitan: So, you know, you lean into your mission, you lean into your pain points, and perhaps how the listener, viewer, reader could help if they only knew about it.
00:20:17.378 --> 00:20:21.998
Maria Reitan: You know, that's part of what a new station is there to do to help solve problems.
00:20:21.998 --> 00:20:23.698
Maria Reitan: So those would be my recommendation.
00:20:24.198 --> 00:20:30.958
Mary Tan: I have another quick question about, we're in the political season, which we call the silly season.
00:20:30.958 --> 00:20:33.858
Mary Tan: And that's an important time for TV stations, right?
00:20:33.858 --> 00:20:34.098
Mary Tan: Right?
00:20:34.098 --> 00:20:35.518
Mary Tan: With their revenue.
00:20:35.518 --> 00:20:38.978
Maria Reitan: Yes, it's hugely, hugely important.
00:20:39.018 --> 00:20:43.318
Maria Reitan: Tons of money flows into TV station during election year.
00:20:43.318 --> 00:20:47.138
Maria Reitan: And I would always, it's the good and the bad.
00:20:47.138 --> 00:20:57.938
Maria Reitan: You get an infusion of a lot of money, but the problem is the next year, when there's not an election, you have to make that amount or more.
00:20:57.938 --> 00:21:07.538
Maria Reitan: So you have to find ways to continue to increase your revenue, your ad revenue, even though it's a non-election year.
00:21:07.538 --> 00:21:11.958
Maria Reitan: So let's say millions of dollars come in this year.
00:21:11.958 --> 00:21:20.558
Maria Reitan: I would have had to make the same amount and preferably more next year with no political spending.
00:21:20.558 --> 00:21:27.818
Maria Reitan: And so it is hard to attain that kind of growth without this infusion of dollars.
00:21:27.818 --> 00:21:31.938
Maria Reitan: So it's the good and the bad that comes with an election year.
00:21:31.938 --> 00:21:44.738
Maria Reitan: The other thing is election coverage, the advertising bumps off legitimate advertisers, not that I'm calling political advertising, not illegitimate.
00:21:45.138 --> 00:21:46.498
Maria Reitan: You know, take that as you will.
00:21:46.498 --> 00:21:52.478
Maria Reitan: However, that means that it can replace Whisker Media client ads, for example.
00:21:52.478 --> 00:21:58.458
Maria Reitan: And so you're just seeing, you're being bombarded by political ads.
00:21:58.458 --> 00:22:05.578
Maria Reitan: And so you've got regular businesses who can get bumped by that, which is also not great.
00:22:05.578 --> 00:22:06.278
Maria Reitan: Wow.
00:22:06.278 --> 00:22:06.878
Mary Tan: Well, you know what?
00:22:06.878 --> 00:22:08.258
Mary Tan: We're going to take a quick break.
00:22:08.258 --> 00:22:10.638
Mary Tan: This is a fascinating conversation.
00:22:10.638 --> 00:22:13.498
Mary Tan: And we'll be back with Maria in just a little bit.
00:22:16.598 --> 00:22:19.018
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00:22:59.698 --> 00:23:00.858
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00:23:00.858 --> 00:23:01.778
Announcer: Let's talk pets.
00:23:01.778 --> 00:23:02.818
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00:23:04.118 --> 00:23:04.918
Announcer: Pet Life Radio.
00:23:15.952 --> 00:23:17.432
Alexane Ricard: And we're back with Maria.
00:23:17.432 --> 00:23:19.932
Alexane Ricard: And I've got one more question, Maria.
00:23:19.932 --> 00:23:26.532
Alexane Ricard: So you've talked a lot about the bad aspects of working in the news, but do you have any good aspects?
00:23:28.672 --> 00:23:32.352
Maria Reitan: Well, Alex, what's a challenging aspect?
00:23:32.352 --> 00:23:39.672
Maria Reitan: Okay, not necessarily bad, just challenging the reality of working in news.
00:23:39.672 --> 00:23:42.552
Maria Reitan: There's so many wonderful things about working in news.
00:23:42.652 --> 00:23:46.872
Maria Reitan: One, I was drawn to news because I was a truth teller.
00:23:46.872 --> 00:23:54.932
Maria Reitan: I wanted, I always said, I wanted to take the man down, you know, I wanted to give, you know, the little man a kiss.
00:23:54.932 --> 00:23:57.212
Maria Reitan: That's why I really went into news.
00:23:57.212 --> 00:24:12.012
Maria Reitan: And I will say that newsrooms can do so many good things if they're focused on the right stories and are really committed to seeking out the truth, burying out what's really happening, bringing truth to the light.
00:24:12.532 --> 00:24:14.532
Maria Reitan: There's many wonderful things that can happen.
00:24:14.532 --> 00:24:18.012
Maria Reitan: There's a lot of really good journalism that still happens today.
00:24:18.012 --> 00:24:22.252
Maria Reitan: It's really exciting to have a front seat on history.
00:24:22.252 --> 00:24:36.752
Maria Reitan: You know, I was there for a lot of really tragic things that happened and saw a lot of things and learned a lot of things that never ever ever made it onto the news, you know, the news product.
00:24:36.752 --> 00:24:46.032
Maria Reitan: This will date me terribly, but I can remember watching the White Bronco from above in real time with OJ.
00:24:46.032 --> 00:24:47.292
Maria Reitan: Simpson in the car.
00:24:47.312 --> 00:24:50.652
Maria Reitan: And I was in news when that was coming down.
00:24:50.812 --> 00:24:53.952
Maria Reitan: I know where I was when that happened.
00:24:53.952 --> 00:25:08.452
Maria Reitan: And then I was at Fox in Miami, and we covered the whole trial all day long, every single day live with our own attorney and our own facilitator.
00:25:08.452 --> 00:25:09.972
Maria Reitan: It was fascinating.
00:25:09.972 --> 00:25:17.052
Maria Reitan: I was there when Andrew Poonanen, who was a serial killer, was caught trapped on a Miami Beach boat.
00:25:17.052 --> 00:25:18.712
Maria Reitan: That was amazing.
00:25:18.712 --> 00:25:20.532
Maria Reitan: Sad, but amazing.
00:25:20.532 --> 00:25:23.552
Maria Reitan: I can tell you where I was on 9-11.
00:25:23.552 --> 00:25:27.032
Maria Reitan: I was in a newsroom, and I know exactly what I did.
00:25:27.032 --> 00:25:29.612
Maria Reitan: And I was very proud of my news team.
00:25:29.612 --> 00:25:32.792
Maria Reitan: We were the first to be in New York.
00:25:32.792 --> 00:25:38.212
Maria Reitan: We were the first to be in, I think it was Pennsylvania, when that other plane went down.
00:25:38.212 --> 00:25:40.252
Maria Reitan: We were there that night.
00:25:40.252 --> 00:25:42.072
Maria Reitan: I sent those crews out the door.
00:25:42.072 --> 00:25:47.612
Maria Reitan: That team thought I was insane, but I got them out and I got them on site.
00:25:47.612 --> 00:25:53.052
Maria Reitan: And the network used my people because they didn't have their own people in place.
00:25:53.052 --> 00:26:02.172
Maria Reitan: So, you know, they're really, really amazing things that I was on the front seat to watch and participate in.
00:26:02.172 --> 00:26:23.872
Maria Reitan: And at the end of the day, I like to think that my team's news coverage helped inform our viewers in a way that perhaps they wouldn't have been informed or wouldn't have their own front seat to history had those crews not been able to do what they needed to do on those really big days.
00:26:23.872 --> 00:26:35.332
Maria Reitan: So, you know, I'm an adrenaline junkie, I had determined, you know, I had the most time when I was a producer and I could be in the control room in the booth calling the shots.
00:26:35.332 --> 00:26:41.252
Maria Reitan: That was what I really, really loved to do, but I only spent maybe half of my, less than half of my career doing that.
00:26:41.252 --> 00:26:49.092
Maria Reitan: The rest of it was, was hiring and firing and creating teams and making choices on content, which is not as fun.
00:26:49.092 --> 00:26:50.992
Maria Reitan: So, yeah.
00:26:50.992 --> 00:26:53.872
Maria Reitan: But yeah, lots of really, really fun times.
00:26:53.872 --> 00:27:05.612
Maria Reitan: And the people I met, I will say hands down, amazing people, hardworking people, and for the most part, attracted to journalism for all the right reasons, at least back when I was in news.
00:27:05.612 --> 00:27:09.192
Mary Tan: And I have to totally agree with everything you just said.
00:27:09.192 --> 00:27:14.612
Mary Tan: And I want people to know too, like you see anchors and reporters on air.
00:27:14.612 --> 00:27:18.912
Mary Tan: But I'm going to tell you and Maria, you chime in, these are not the decision makers.
00:27:18.912 --> 00:27:25.472
Mary Tan: It's people behind the scenes like you and the producers who are really calling the shots.
00:27:25.472 --> 00:27:27.712
Mary Tan: And so I just want to bring up one thing.
00:27:28.172 --> 00:27:34.132
Mary Tan: I've experimented really pitching producers rather than the on air people.
00:27:34.132 --> 00:27:35.632
Mary Tan: What do you think about that?
00:27:35.632 --> 00:27:38.752
Maria Reitan: I never pitch on air people ever for that reason.
00:27:38.752 --> 00:27:43.832
Maria Reitan: And I don't not that I'm not dissing on air people, but that's not their role.
00:27:43.832 --> 00:27:48.012
Maria Reitan: their role is not to decide what goes on the news.
00:27:48.012 --> 00:27:59.232
Maria Reitan: their role is to make what is created for that newscast really come alive with their delivery and their ability to zig and zag as the product changes on the air real time.
00:27:59.232 --> 00:28:01.792
Maria Reitan: And to ask good question.
00:28:01.792 --> 00:28:03.332
Maria Reitan: That's their role.
00:28:03.332 --> 00:28:07.032
Maria Reitan: The role of a news director is to set the agenda for the day.
00:28:07.032 --> 00:28:08.012
Maria Reitan: What are we gonna cover?
00:28:08.012 --> 00:28:09.392
Maria Reitan: How are we gonna cover it?
00:28:09.392 --> 00:28:10.692
Maria Reitan: How are we gonna be different?
00:28:10.692 --> 00:28:13.972
Maria Reitan: How are we gonna lead into our mission as a news station?
00:28:13.972 --> 00:28:24.412
Maria Reitan: And then deploy that to the producers who make that come alive by creating their 30 minute to an hour newscast and determining what that lineup looks like, that lineup of stories.
00:28:24.752 --> 00:28:27.892
Maria Reitan: And then writing a lot of it with their team.
00:28:27.892 --> 00:28:33.352
Maria Reitan: And then making sure that what comes back from a reporter is up to snuff.
00:28:33.352 --> 00:28:39.552
Maria Reitan: And if it's not, telling that reporter to go back and work on those stories to make them better.
00:28:39.552 --> 00:28:44.112
Maria Reitan: So I always pitch assignment desk editors.
00:28:44.112 --> 00:28:49.872
Maria Reitan: And the reason I pitch assignment desk editors is they're the ones that are deploying the crews to cover the stories.
00:28:49.872 --> 00:28:51.832
Maria Reitan: And they keep what's called a daybook.
00:28:52.172 --> 00:28:55.892
Maria Reitan: And in that daybook are all the possible stories that could happen.
00:28:55.892 --> 00:29:00.852
Maria Reitan: And they get a lot of those story ideas from people like us in PR who send news releases.
00:29:00.852 --> 00:29:04.352
Maria Reitan: Or they send out pitches and say, Hey, this is happening today.
00:29:04.352 --> 00:29:07.112
Maria Reitan: Or here's a great story I think you should consider.
00:29:07.112 --> 00:29:11.292
Maria Reitan: So I always send it to the general newsroom email.
00:29:11.292 --> 00:29:13.932
Maria Reitan: I send it to the assignment editor.
00:29:13.932 --> 00:29:16.572
Maria Reitan: And I send it to the show producer.
00:29:16.572 --> 00:29:23.772
Maria Reitan: Because at the end of the day, the show producer will ultimately decide if it makes it into that story line up or not, that show line up.
00:29:23.772 --> 00:29:28.632
Maria Reitan: So I try to create relationships with those show producers.
00:29:28.632 --> 00:29:34.192
Maria Reitan: In very small markets, anchors can be also producers.
00:29:34.192 --> 00:29:38.592
Maria Reitan: So I'm not saying I would never pitch an anchor.
00:29:38.592 --> 00:29:42.352
Maria Reitan: But nine times out of ten, they're not going to make the difference.
00:29:42.352 --> 00:29:44.772
Maria Reitan: Sometimes a reporter, if they have a beat.
00:29:45.352 --> 00:29:55.912
Maria Reitan: So, you know, in the case of pet, you know, if you could find a lifestyle reporter or consumer reporter, someone who covers consumer topics.
00:29:55.912 --> 00:30:08.212
Maria Reitan: They're few and far between these days because beats are subject matter experts that frankly, newsrooms can no longer really afford to only do stories on their expertise.
00:30:08.212 --> 00:30:20.392
Maria Reitan: But if you can find them, they're great people to pitch because they're naturally going to understand the value of that story to themselves and their dealers and their readers.
00:30:20.392 --> 00:30:23.912
Maria Reitan: So those are the people that I pitch on a regular basis.
00:30:23.912 --> 00:30:25.772
Mary Tan: I have one final question to you.
00:30:25.772 --> 00:30:32.152
Mary Tan: You run Topsail Strategies, but you also do some work with Whisker Media.
00:30:32.152 --> 00:30:34.872
Mary Tan: So we want to give a shout out to Topsail Strategies.
00:30:34.872 --> 00:30:39.612
Mary Tan: Tell us a little bit about it and what you focus on and what you like to do best.
00:30:40.072 --> 00:30:41.552
Maria Reitan: Oh, thank you, guys.
00:30:41.552 --> 00:30:43.032
Maria Reitan: I'll keep it short.
00:30:43.032 --> 00:30:48.092
Maria Reitan: So I love helping companies set strategy at the end of the day.
00:30:48.092 --> 00:30:52.212
Maria Reitan: What is it that you're trying to achieve from a business standpoint?
00:30:52.212 --> 00:30:53.952
Maria Reitan: What does success look like?
00:30:53.952 --> 00:31:02.712
Maria Reitan: And really working with the folks there at Whisker Media to help that strategy of how do we make that happen?
00:31:02.712 --> 00:31:08.532
Maria Reitan: What are the tools in the toolbox that we can deploy to make sure that your goals are realized?
00:31:08.992 --> 00:31:23.852
Maria Reitan: So through that strategy, one tool might be PR, one tool may be paid media, one tool may be influencers, one tool may be social media, one tool may be events, sampling, promotion.
00:31:23.852 --> 00:31:27.732
Maria Reitan: There's a whole bunch of tools in the toolbox, but which ones do we deploy?
00:31:27.732 --> 00:31:29.992
Maria Reitan: And I love working at that level.
00:31:29.992 --> 00:31:38.292
Maria Reitan: And then coming alongside great people, Mary, like you and Alex, to supplement wherever I can.
00:31:38.292 --> 00:31:40.292
Maria Reitan: You two are great professionals.
00:31:40.292 --> 00:31:48.732
Maria Reitan: So where can I lend a hand and help diversify offering on any given day to any given clients?
00:31:48.732 --> 00:32:00.352
Maria Reitan: But yes, based on my experience, having worked at a large advertising and PR firm, I know about integrated marketing and integrated campaigns.
00:32:00.592 --> 00:32:07.672
Maria Reitan: So I've done large advertising campaigns, which is something that I can bring to the table as well.
00:32:07.672 --> 00:32:08.332
Mary Tan: Absolutely.
00:32:08.332 --> 00:32:19.052
Mary Tan: You've worked with some of the top Fortune 500 companies out there and you were responsible for a lot of work with the Subaru campaign, which everybody knows, the love campaign.
00:32:19.052 --> 00:32:25.772
Maria Reitan: Yeah, well, the Subaru campaign, I didn't work on it specifically, but it was work done at the agency.
00:32:26.132 --> 00:32:31.572
Maria Reitan: And that firm still has that brand, that client.
00:32:31.572 --> 00:32:34.212
Maria Reitan: And that work is groundbreaking.
00:32:34.212 --> 00:32:38.452
Maria Reitan: They've won so many awards for that work and deservingly so.
00:32:38.452 --> 00:32:42.032
Maria Reitan: Yeah, I wish I could say that I had a hand in that.
00:32:42.032 --> 00:32:46.392
Maria Reitan: I did not, but I definitely was there when we won the business.
00:32:46.392 --> 00:32:52.452
Maria Reitan: And of course, they've had it for years and years and years because they keep innovating and that's the key.
00:32:52.452 --> 00:32:53.492
Mary Tan: That's so awesome.
00:32:53.492 --> 00:32:55.552
Mary Tan: Well, thank you so much for your time.
00:32:55.732 --> 00:32:57.932
Mary Tan: I know you are in between moves.
00:32:57.932 --> 00:33:06.432
Mary Tan: You just moved from Minnesota to New hampshire and you are going to be like Alex and be a resident of the world soon.
00:33:06.432 --> 00:33:06.952
Alexane Ricard: Yay!
00:33:07.892 --> 00:33:08.552
Maria Reitan: Yay, Alex.
00:33:10.192 --> 00:33:13.252
Alexane Ricard: Yay!
00:33:13.252 --> 00:33:14.052
Mary Tan: All right.
00:33:14.052 --> 00:33:15.372
Mary Tan: Well, thank you so much.
00:33:15.372 --> 00:33:32.672
Mary Tan: And we're so excited to be doing this for all of you out there who are making life better for animals and got a question you want us to answer or Maria, reach out to us on Instagram or Facebook under the Whisker Report and we'll try to answer it in the future.
00:33:32.672 --> 00:33:38.232
Alexane Ricard: And as we always say, bark loud and purse large.
00:33:39.652 --> 00:33:40.992
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